fun for kids---

hi everyone...
any suggestions for making gardening even more fun for kids? i remember
reading about doing a pole bean teepee, but can't remember where....can anyone
help??
thanks (delurking...)
betsey
"we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

back in about 1975 or so we built one for the grandchildren and i
think i had a pic of it on my web site but can't remember if it is
still on line.
We just took long poles from where a builder was clearing an area and
placed them in the customary circular and tied the tops together and
laced some clothesline wire around to solidify it, then placed a
tarpolion over it in a fashion to make a door, and when it was time to
plant, planted the pole beans and let them climb up over it keeping an
area clear for the door. They loved it! worked like that three summers
with beans and two winters with tarps before they outgrew it. if you
want to see it let me know and I'll get it off my hard disk and send
it to you via e-mail
Leo/lee

thank you leo! your description was right on target!! i think we will try
this come spring....my little guy (almost three) will LOVE IT!
betsey
ps-i'd love a photo if its not too much of a pain to get ....
betsey
"we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Two x over) wrote in message
I tried to send the pic to the bove addie and i get an error "The
message could not be sent because one of the recipients was rejected
by the server. The rejected e-mail address was 'Two x over
( snipped-for-privacy@aol.com)'. Subject 'Emailing: TEPE75', Account: 'starnet',
Server: 'smtp.1starnet.com', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '550
unknown user <Two>', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 550,
Error Number: 0x800CCC79"
and as you know, the group will not accept digital images. ??? how can
I help you? I have used all the space on my web site allowed... had to
delete some of it<G>
leo/lee

hmmm...
you could try snipped-for-privacy@harleysvillegroup.com
that's my office email. im sorry that it bounced---usually i get things!
betsey
"we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

Call me a crumudgeon. But my grandmother used to have a saying in
Italian which I will translate roughly..... "When the fun begins, the
learning stops".
Basically, in today's "educational system" everything is based on fun.
Back in the era when America's great leaders were educated (in fact,
right up until the 1960s or so), school was designed as being anything
but FUN. Education was serious business. Today in the DOZENS of
countries which surpass the US in educational quality and achievement,
most particularly the Asian countries, fun is not particularly
important in the educational process. I seriously think that is where
the Americal educational system has gone very, very wrong. Insisting
that every learning experience be one big "whooptie hoo haaa".
I think you would benefit your children more by making it a learning
experience rather than a FUN one.
Em
Be careful what you wish for....

<< Subject: Re: fun for kids---
From: Auntie Em snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com >>
<< Call me a crumudgeon. But my grandmother used to have a saying in
Italian which I will translate roughly..... "When the fun begins, the learning
stops".
Basically, in today's "educational system" everything is based on fun. Back in
the era when America's great leaders were educated (in fact, right up until the
1960s or so), school was designed as being anything but FUN. >>
____Reply Separator_____
And what did you learn at recess? Geez, for all these years, kids looked
forward to recess because they thought it was fun.
Thanks for setting them straight.

School was interesting, but not fun until about 1970. When it got to be
"fun", it got boring.
I am at the point of home schooling my two - what passes for education is
truly lubricious.
But teaching a child to garden should be fun with out trying to be "fun"
Cheryl

hi guys...
thanks for your thoughts. i'd like to point out, when i asked about "fun for
kids", i was, in fact, talking about what would be fun for a kid who is turning
THREE in january. not a teen, a tween, or 10 year old. my ten year old just
finished her fifth grade science project on the purple cone flower, and did an
awsome job. she knows how to garden.
i did think, it would be "fun" (oh lord, did i SAY that word?" to try and grow
a teepee for the little guy.
of course, now that i know better, i will sit him down, and teach him about
soil composition......
betsey
"we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

so he'll be 3.5 in the summer... my son just turned 4 last
August. he had a bean teepee with green, yellow & purple
beans. radishes are great for 3 year old because they get from
seed to harvest so quickly. try the multi-colored varieties
plus white icicle radishes. he also really enjoyed growing
peas.
i bought him a Parks patio salad garden set (preseeded paper
you put in pots) containing sweet 100 tomatoes, assorted
lettuces & bell peppers. i helped him set the pots up & he
tended them all summer. his tomatoes did better than any in
the big garden.
sunflowers tend to be a big hit with little kids too.
lee

Why can't school be fun and educational at the same time? Not every
child is going to find every topic interesting and fun, but we can try
to present the information to appeal to different learning styles so
they will attain the information better. After all, children are
going to remember the material they found interesting and disregard
the boring information they chose to tune out. More importantly I
believe we need to find more ways to intrinsically motivate children.
Any ideas?

I don't think Betsy is thinking fun like whoopity doo, i think she
means like making it interesting, bringing out the wonder of nature
which is a different kind of fun than whoopity doo. When I was pre
first grade, my aunt had a huge vegetable garden with all kinds of
stuff from radishes to corn ..lots of corn.. and she would give me
several varieties of seeds and a small area near the fence and let me
plant them the way she did and to me it was a real miracal (my mind is
skipping a beat and can't spell tonite!!)the way the little sprouts
would come up from what looked like an insignificant bit of material.
Starting with her and my mother's support, I've had something growing
ever since no matter where i was/am. "Interesting" is a type of fun
that makes one delve deeper into a subject to learn more about it.
Children are people too, and all people need a break from the daily
sessions just like adults need a 15 minute break from their desks. So
a bit of fun at break i think is good...if the bullies are kept under
control.. we had them we i was little, too<G>
Leo/lee
(Two x over) wrote:

thanks cheryl and lee...
and yes, we are going to grow a bean teepee, and lots and lots of sunflowers
(he loves them.....every thing about sunflowers, how big can we get them to
grow, how they hang their heads, and how birds eat the seeds....)
fun is important. and while i can appreciate the comments that "all education
is now mandated to be fun"-thats not necessarily the truth, at least not in our
small parochial school...fun is a very much needed aspect of life!
betsey
"we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

wrong. besides, the OP is asking about making gardening more
fun/interesting, not how to get the kids to do calculus.
<snip rant about US educational system>
the major failings of the current system are too much
bureaucracy, too much teaching to the test at the expense of
actual *learning*, oversized classes in elementary schools,
teachers being expected to not only teach the basics but also
ESL, deal with LD students mainsteamed into thier classes,
disipline the parents neglected to teach... etc. it has little
to do with the kids having "fun".
lee

--
It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still
differentiate

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